With fuel prices in flux and environmental concerns deepening, the seductive song of the hybrid sirens is louder than ever, despite increasing skepticism about hybrid vehicles' positive effects on wallets and the environment. Perhaps the problem is that there hasn't yet been a fuel-sipping hybrid sedan for the common family man. The current hybrid sedans are either too conspicuous (Toyota Prius), too small (Honda Civic Hybrid), or too focused on performance rather than economy (Lexus GS450h and Honda Accord Hybrid).
But Toyota's latest gasoline/electric model, the Camry Hybrid, is a fastball grooved right down the everyman's strike zone. With it, Toyota aims to bring hybrid ownership to the masses; after all, the 2007 Camry on which it is based is the successor to the best-selling car in America.
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The Camry Hybrid is a comfortable and unassuming machine as long as you drive it calmly over smooth pavement, where you'll enjoy generally placid ride characteristics. But stay away from pockmarked roads, where the Hybrid's body control goes limp (likely due to the extra weight of the hybrid system), poor damping allows unwanted vibrations into the cabin, and severe bumps cause kickback through the steering wheel.
One of the Hybrid's oddest attributes is the relationship between its throttle, engine speed, and engine sound. The accelerator has long travel and is desensitized to all but the most urgent stomps; when you mash the pedal, the continuously variable transmission revs the engine endlessly, making it sound not unlike a broken food processor. All of this makes the car seem unbearably sluggish, but in an extremely scientific test-OK, a drag race-the Hybrid outpulled its conventional four-cylinder twin by a hefty margin.
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